The Fox in Virginia

[25 June 1998]
Yesterday evening the Fox contacted us from Damascus, Virginia.
He crossed the state line into Virginia at 4:41pm that afternoon;
a line of rocks across the trail demarcated the border.
While in town he ate a whole pizza
and for the first time tried some Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream
(he says it was very good).

We were incorrect
that the Fox was going to spend last Monday night in Dennis Cove,
which would have put him behind by about ten miles;
he wound up behind by only about three miles,
which he recovered from by a long hike yesterday.
This put him in to Damascus after the post office
and supply stores had closed,
so his start this morning will have been delayed by his business there.

The team of which Bobby is hiking is now down to two;
Ziad ``threw in the towel'' (the Fox's words) at Hot Springs,
and will spend the summer relaxing at home
while the Fox and NaPensee continue down the trail.
NaPensee, being significantly older than the Fox,
is hiking more slowly,
and will adopt the habit of taking vehicular shortcuts
around various segments of the trail
(he has hiked the AT many times before and incurs no dishonor).
So the Fox and his partner have been alternately overtaking each other
and do not hike together for extended periods.

The Fox reported that there had been severe thunderstorms ``two nights ago'',
which presumably referes to Monday evening.
Otherwise the weather has been very clear;
he remarked upon the beauty of a sunset one night at 9pm
as he was crossing one of the many balds on this section of the trail.

Legend

The white arrow indicates the Fox's
last confirmed position on the trail.

The blue arrow is
an estimate of the Fox's current position.

If the Fox is significantly ahead of
or behind his projected schedule, a red arrow will appear that indicates
where he had planned to be by this date.